The Michigan Manufacturers Association wants to tear down more barriers.

Driven by projected long-term growth in the global mining industry and strong demand for metals, one Southwest Michigan-based mining equipment supplier plans a major expansion of its capacity that could nearly double its workforce.

Automotive analyst Mike Wall at IHS Automotive thinks the industry will reach an inflection point in 2013 where it will hit steady growth driven by new launches, a recovering housing market and customers returning to the market.

IRN’s annual survey on auto industry sourcing dynamics shows for 2012 that component suppliers are holding up well in spite of the perpetual David versus Goliath mode that arises with customers who are limited in number and many times larger in size.

To paraphrase an old saying, keep your business associates close, but your competition closer. That’s what a West Michigan-based manufacturer found out on a recent foreign trade mission.

Two Midwest manufacturers believe they’ve fabricated a deal that will help the newly combined company be more competitive and grow after a private equity firm looked to exit.

Managers at busy manufacturing companies have to find a balance between the work they need to do and should do. For many, sustainable manufacturing practices often fall into the latter category.

Students in Western Michigan University's paper engineering program are finding out that paper pays.

An updated outlook has the office furniture industry now finishing 2012 down slightly and returning to growth in 2013.

An updated outlook has the office furniture industry now finishing 2012 down slightly and returning to growth in 2013.

We recently had an opportunity to talk with our colleague Andy Fein of Hans-Andreas Fein & Associates of Stuttgart, Germany. Our questions to him centered on whether there is anything going on within the industry that should make us more comfortable about the outlook and opportunities for that region.

The aerospace industry’s move to more composite jet engine components has one local manufacturer ready for take off.

There’s nothing like a recession to refocus a company’s strategy. Just ask Grand Rapids-based Micron Manufacturing Co.

GE Aviation’s Johnson Technologies subsidiary is a prominent defense contractor in West Michigan, but it’s a rush of new commercial contracts that has necessitated an expansion of one of the company’s two Muskegon-area properties.

While many companies may think of recycling as just a method to keep the environmentalists at bay, Haworth Inc. has found that, in fact, the practice pays off.